In fiscal year 2022, 733,866 people in 369,890 households received SNAP benefits in Tennessee.
Burchett won his last election by just under 140,000 votes. Yeah. Chew on that math for a minute… then check out the attached chart to see just how much fire republicans are playing with.
Because when you start threatening folks’ lives by taking away food and healthcare, it’s not going to end well.
For decades republicans have catered to lobbyists and corporations over their constituents. There was a time not too long ago when people could graduate with a high school diploma and get a full time job with benefits and live a comfortable life. But those jobs started dwindling away a few decades ago… thanks to trickle down policy that only trickled up.
Now republican elected officials want to blame working people for not working ‘hard enough’. They blame working people for working multiple part time jobs with low pay and no health benefits because that’s all employers are offering. The full time working class jobs of our parents’ and grandparents’ generations are few and far between these days. And why? Greed. Pure and simple greed.
So please explain to me, Mr. Burchett… just where are these bootstraps people are supposed to be pulling themselves up by? Bootstraps require opportunity, and your ilk has allowed the job market AND the housing market to go rank.
And that ‘gravy train’ is the safety net that keeps children fed and healthy in the rank market republicans perpetuate.
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Last night, House Republicans voted for a budget framework that would gut Medicaid, SNAP, and other life-or-death programs in order to fund tax cuts for the rich.
This bill is going to be very unpopular. It’s going to make constituents very angry. And it’s going to cost lives.
So what’s next?
Spending cuts are popular with some voters… in theory. But things change when it actually comes time to name the programs that are going to be gutted and they realize it hits uncomfortably close to home.
To come anywhere close to the kind of cuts Republicans are talking about, Medicaid would have to be slashed by about $800 billion and SNAP by 230 billion over the next decade. Quick facts:
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72 million Americans rely on Medicaid.
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41% of births in the US are paid for by the program.
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Medicaid is the primary payer for nursing home care (something felt not just by those requiring the care, but their adult children as well)
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One estimate suggests 36 million people could lose their healthcare coverage as a result of the bill.
Negotiations are going to drag on for months. Republicans from swing districts are going to get cold feet on the Medicaid cuts. Meanwhile, hardline conservatives are going to threaten to pull support if the budget isn’t slashed enough to offset the billionaire tax cuts Trump cares about above all else. It’s going to be a mess.
And that means we’ve got months to turn up the heat on Republicans about why they are gutting programs for poor and working people to fund tax cuts for the rich. Delicious bonus? A congressional recess is coming. Every representative and senator is going to be back in their state or district coming face to face with pissed off voters (you).
This bill is going to be even more unpopular than the effort to repeal the ACA. If passed, it’d hurt more people. And it’s being paired with incredibly unpopular tax cuts for billionaires. The politics are AWFUL. People are going to be fearful and angry. It’s up to us to harness that energy and convince a handful of Republican representatives (the math will depend on upcoming special elections) and/or four Republican senators to vote no — or to make the politics SO toxic that Republicans are forced to rework the budget framework completely.
What can you do RIGHT NOW?
We’ve set up tools to help you easily contact your elected officials in opposition to this budget proposal.
Call your Republican Senator >>
Email your Republican Senator >>
Call your Republican Representative >>
Email your Republican Representative >>
But calls are just the start. Defeating this bill is going to take in-person action — office visits, protests, and more.
So watch this space. Action is coming.